Proposed LNG production plant merits full review [Letter]

Diane Leopold's recent commentary conveniently ignores some important points ("Dominion Transmission: Cove Point LNG project environmentally sound," Dec. 5). First, the original Environmental Impact Study (EIS) she refers to was for the Dominion property as an LNG import and distribution facility. What is being proposed is an LNG production facility. To claim the original EIS covers this is tantamount to saying "apples, door knobs, they're both round."

It is not reassuring to know that Dominion would pay other companies for their reduced emissions. Will those other companies also breathe the air coming from the LNG production facility? Will they mitigate the possible damage to the Chesapeake Bay and Southern Maryland?

Ms. Leopold also conveniently omits mentioning Dominion's plans to build two walls, 60 feet high by maybe a quarter-mile long, to reduce noise from the always-on LNG production generators. Why 60 feet? Will that reduce the continuous 24/7 noise from that of jet engines to only leaf blowers? Or will it completely silence that noise? And by the way, the plans are to build two walls, not four. Why just two? Let those of us north of the planned facility just wear ear plugs and pretend that the charm of the Chesapeake hasn't been despoiled?

"Ship traffic to and from the Cove Point pier will not change from currently permitted levels," she says. True, but there are no ships coming to the pier today. What are the plans to protect vulnerable LNG tankers from asymmetric attacks such as the one that hit the USS Cole? In 2004, Richard Clarke who was then the U.S. anti-terrorism czar, shut down all LNG traffic into Boston Harbor because of the danger from a terrorist strike. "Had one of the giant tankers blown up..., it would have wiped out downtown Boston," Clarke said in his book, "Against All Enemies." An explosion of just one bulbous tank on an LNG ship could produce a fire half-a-mile wide, experts say. Along a densely populated shoreline, they add, such an inferno could be disastrous. One rocket propelled grenade into the bulbous container of liquid LNG could be catastrophic, and that pier is only three miles from Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant.

LNG production is fundamentally different from LNG distribution. We need an Environmental Impact Study and more including a review by the Department of Homeland Security.

Reginald V. Truitt was a zoologist at the University of Maryland and a pioneer in scientific studies to better understand and protect the precious resources of the Chesapeake Bay. In 1925, Truitt founded the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, which became the foundation for what is...

Last week there was a gas leak on Solomon's Island. The authorities didn't shut down the island and evacuate residents because it was believed driving by the leak could be more harmful that staying put.

I was surprised to see in Tim Wheeler's report on the latest Cove Point permit ("State gives gas export facility go-ahead," July 23) that Gov. Martin O'Malley has decided that fracked gas is a bridge fuel and that fracking can be done safely if the government sets the "highest and best"...

After years of hearing that the U.S. is too dependent on foreign oil, and that our reliance on fossil fuels is ultimately unsustainable anyway, why are we now developing ways to export natural gas ("A key win for LNG facility," July 24)?

In its permit ruling last month, the Maryland Public Service Commission stated that the proposed Cove Point liquefied natural gas refinery is not in the public interest and would be a net economic negative for the state. That should have been the end of the discussion and the project should...

Rep. John Delaney's commentary ("Natural gas is the right choice for the U.S.," April 2) speaks for the energy and job needs of Canada, Crimea, Europe, Russia, Ukraine the Midwestern United States and southern Maryland. Unmentioned in this geopolitical academic exercise are the energy and job...

Thank you for covering the controversy regarding the proposed Dominion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Cove Point ("Calvert County Cove Point opponents, supporters flood state with comments," April 3).